The OFFICIAL "Was the 2025 NBA draft rigged?"

[DavidSterned]

What team winning would have made it not rigged?

This happens every year where people complain about it being rigged for X and Y reason yet could almost make the same argument for 5 others teams if they landed 1st instead.

Honestly, I think it'd be hard to come up with a super convincing conspiracy theory for anyone other than Dallas. So to answer your question, literally almost anyone. The optics here kinda speak for themselves.

[SOUL]

What team winning would have made it not rigged?

This happens every year where people complain about it being rigged for X and Y reason yet could almost make the same argument for 5 others teams if they landed 1st instead.

Honestly, I think it'd be hard to come up with a super convincing conspiracy theory for anyone other than Dallas. So to answer your question, literally almost anyone. The optics here kinda speak for themselves.

Utah, Spurs, Rockets, Sixers, Nets were getting a lot of conspiracy posts/threads before the draft. Only ones I didn't see good arguments for were Toronto, Charlotte, Wiz. Nobody was really taking 10th-14th seed serious.

[azcatz11]

How would they even rig the process? It's a ping pong ball lottery with a thousand possible combinations per pick. The room is full of witnesses and third party monitors. Ernst&Young, one of the biggest accounting firms in the world, supervises the entire process.

How did the 2017 Academy Awards happen? Anything can happen, anywhere.

[Rainwater]

How would they even rig the process? It's a ping pong ball lottery with a thousand possible combinations per pick. The room is full of witnesses and third party monitors. Ernst&Young, one of the biggest accounting firms in the world, supervises the entire process.

People don't care man; they only care about the conspiracy.

[Rainwater]

Nobody said this because nobody thought the NBA would do this so OPENLY. That is the shocking part about this.

I just don't get how you guys come up with this stuff. Regardless of where Flagg went, it would have been claimed rigged.

Why are you lying?

If Flagg goes to the teams with the highest percentage of landing him, no one calls it rigged.

Wtf are you talking about?

Dallas does a trade compared to the BABE RUTH trade and people are losing their minds over how stupid it was. Then that same team with a 1.8% chance magically lands a potential generational talent that's only 18 years old.

STOP the BS.

There were conspiracies about him going to Utah and Brooklyn.

I was going to argue impossible to rigg this, but people are just hell bent on the conspiracy.

[-Luke-]

I didn't think the lottery was rigged these days. The outcome that could have convinced me is that the Mavs get the first pick. Here we are.

[baller16]

Imagine voting NO on the poll.

Why are people so delusional? Do they do it because accepting the evil reality of this world is too painful?

Exactly. It's not only this year's draft, there's a consistent pattern of 1st picks being awarded to teams that lose their superstar.

[Raps in 4]

Imagine voting NO on the poll.

Why are people so delusional? Do they do it because accepting the evil reality of this world is too painful?

Exactly. It's not only this year's draft, there's a consistent pattern of 1st picks being awarded to teams that lose their superstar.

It's even more ridiculous when you consider the stupidly unlikely odds each time, and every situation being connected to LeBron.

LeBron leaves the Cavs. The Cavs win the lottery with 2.8% odds and draft Kyrie.

LeBron comes back to Cleveland and needs a competitive team built around him. The Cavs miraculously win the #1 pick (1.7% odds) and trade it for Kevin Love.

LeBron goes to LAL and needs a superstar teammate to make the team competitive and the Pelicans have just the player! As AD publicly demands a trade to the Lakers, the Pelicans miraculously win the lottery (6% odds) and draft Zion.

LeBron is getting old and ratings are plummeting. Something needs to be done to increase interest in the league again. I know, how about the Mavericks trade a top-5 player just entering his prime to the Lakers for a bag of chips? What a silly trade that was. Nobody with a functioning brain would have made it. Oh wait, I'm hearing the Mavs have just now also miraculously won the lottery with 1.8% odds and can draft Cooper Flagg.

The script is more predictable than WWE. That, or God really loves LeBron and rewards the teams that help LeBron.

[Bloodbather]

Definitely has an iffy look, I'll give you that. That being said, the NBA would have to rig it in the other direction to avoid giving this impression, which is the irony of it. If the Mavs got it due to sheer luck, what can you do about it if you're the NBA?

I don't think the lottery is rigged in general, too much evidence to the contrary of that, but this one does make you suspicious that they might be tinkering with it at specific times. I don’t know.

[NbaAllDay]

How would they even rig the process? It's a ping pong ball lottery with a thousand possible combinations per pick. The room is full of witnesses and third party monitors. Ernst&Young, one of the biggest accounting firms in the world, supervises the entire process.

People don't care man; they only care about the conspiracy.

The irony being the people saying "how can you not see it's rigged" as if that's the default position.

It shouldn't really be a surprise. A bit of the Dunning Kruger effect playing out.

[NbaAllDay]

What team winning would have made it not rigged?

This happens every year where people complain about it being rigged for X and Y reason yet could almost make the same argument for 5 others teams if they landed 1st instead.

Honestly, I think it'd be hard to come up with a super convincing conspiracy theory for anyone other than Dallas. So to answer your question, literally almost anyone. The optics here kinda speak for themselves.

Revisionist history. People were saying it would be a conspiracy for a number of teams to win. Imagine the same uproar if it was SAS.

[Saberestar]

How would they even rig the process? It's a ping pong ball lottery with a thousand possible combinations per pick. The room is full of witnesses and third party monitors. Ernst&Young, one of the biggest accounting firms in the world, supervises the entire process.

People don't care man; they only care about the conspiracy.

The irony being the people saying "how can you not see it's rigged" as if that's the default position.

It shouldn't really be a surprise. A bit of the Dunning Kruger effect playing out.

I understand what you are saying but it’s not THAT difficult to rigged it.

Do you know exactly how a trick is done by a wonderful magician? No, you don't know, but you know it's just a trick and he made it.

I can't be wrong but I think this result was orchestrated in February. If the Mavs wouldn't have been in the lottery they would have get a different gift in the next future.

[NbaAllDay]

People don't care man; they only care about the conspiracy.

The irony being the people saying "how can you not see it's rigged" as if that's the default position.

It shouldn't really be a surprise. A bit of the Dunning Kruger effect playing out.

I understand what you are saying but it’s not THAT difficult to rigged it.

Do you know exactly how a trick is done by a wonderful magician? No, you don't know, but you know it's just a trick and he made it.

I can't be wrong but I think this result was orchestrated in February. If the Mavs wouldn't have been in the lottery they would have get a different gift in the next future.

You arn't just talking about a trick, its a required conspiracy amongst the NBA/owners which is a whole nother layer above a trick.

Also thats not how it really works when it comes to tricks or magicians but it would be pointless to explain that, its kind of only proving my point that you would elude to it as magic.

[Saberestar]

The irony being the people saying "how can you not see it's rigged" as if that's the default position.

It shouldn't really be a surprise. A bit of the Dunning Kruger effect playing out.

I understand what you are saying but it’s not THAT difficult to rigged it.

Do you know exactly how a trick is done by a wonderful magician? No, you don't know, but you know it's just a trick and he made it.

I can't be wrong but I think this result was orchestrated in February. If the Mavs wouldn't have been in the lottery they would have get a different gift in the next future.

You arn't just talking about a trick, its a required conspiracy amongst the NBA/owners which is a whole nother layer above a trick.

Also thats not how it really works when it comes to tricks or magicians but it would be pointless to explain that, its kind of only proving my point that you would elude to it as magic.

Lottery results aren't important, only the basketball freaks like us care about it lol.

There is only one team out there...that team in the NBA.

Every team "works" for the league and every player plays for the NBA. Who cares who has the #1, he is gonna be for sure an NBA product. Some people are forgetting that.

[Coach Carter]

- Helped Cavs get Kyrie, knowing well Lebron will return
- Helped Cavs get Wiggins, knowing well they'll trade him for K Love, hence big 3 is created, Lebron gets his 3rd chip
- Helped Lakers get Luka, Bron stays relevant, despite father time catching up

[-Luke-]

Has anyone already mentioned that the Jazz were part of the Luka trade? Without knowing what player was involved?

So the Jazz helped to facilitate the Luka trade, without realizing that this is what they were doing. And as a reward, they were **** again in the lottery.

[atlantabbq99]

Luka is an international super star and he fits in a big market like LA.

Coop comes from a small village in the deep woods in Maine. He will fit in well in a small rural market like Dallas.

[syrus3]

Luka wanted to stay in Dallas. Now he’s stuck on the Lakers where he won’t win a title.

The NBA rigs sh*t but they can’t do anything about that lol.

[wadenation305]

And for the rigged argument, do I believe the NBA tells a team "Hey, you need to throw this game and let x team win", no. Do I think they tell their refs, "Hey, I need you to put the thumb on the scale in this favor?" Yes, that is realistically doable as opposed to "Hey, throw the game."

[dsg2003mach1]

I feel like it's coin flip odds, at best, that they dont occasionally at least influence outcomes.

the whole Ernst and Young argument hurts more than it helps imho. Sorry, but you're not the biggest without pulling some bs

I'll just leave this here

Ernst & Young to Pay $100 Million Penalty for Employees Cheating on CPA Ethics Exams and Misleading Investigation
Largest Penalty Ever Imposed by SEC Against an Audit Firm

https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-114